Isekai'd into Eva!
by Harkenul
Summary: Stuck in the body of the younger Ikari seven days before the fight between Unit-01 and Sachiel, what can an ordinary teen from another world do to fix things as best as he can, all while trying to stay under the radar from forces bigger than him? A more realistic take on SI fics. Expect a bigger focus on relationships rather than stopping Third Impact or the forces of SEELE.
1. Chapter 1 - Awakening

Most people love to remember their dreams, or at least try to continue them when rudely awoken. I usually don't dream, to be frank. Most of the time, I tend to forget what I dream upon waking up. So it didn't really bother me to slam my hand onto the alarm clock seated next to me, shutting it up.

Crap. Another weekend of leaving my phone's alarm on and ruining my sleep once again, another slow morning on the side. What else could go wrong, I wondered, the day hasn't even started yet.

From outside, I could hear the sounds of birds from chirping in their nests or huddled on telephone wires. Cicadas buzzed loudly, drowning out the birds, and just long enough to be heard over the gentle flow of what little traffic there presumably was. It was... unusually quiet for a Saturday. Typically the immigrant families from across the street would already be yakking it up, playing music or throwing a party of some kind for whatever reason. It was loud, but nothing worth calling the police over.

They barely came to the neighborhood anyway, given how peaceful it was. Peaceful was a nice word. Fitting for a bed, like mine - a bunk bed my twin and I shared. So soft, and cuddly; those memory foam mattresses were definitely worth the extra money, even if Dad protested it at first.

Once you lay down, you'll never want to get up.

_...Wait... where's my phone? _

Blinking the boogers out of my lashes, I shot up with a yelp as I pawed the left side of my…bed?

_Hold on, this isn't a - a futon?! What happened to the bunk? Where's my brother?_

I quickly turned to look at the rest of my surroundings. The room was a traditionally Japanese one, like the ones I read about whenever I was bored - hitting _random_ on Wikipedia one night was more fun than I expected. Clean, neat, and more empty than I expected. It was bare bones, the only thing sticking out from the barren womb of a bedroom being a single cello. It stood there as if waiting for a spotlight to come from the heavens, destined to be played by someone worthy of its power.

_I don't own a cello! I (used to) play piano and violin! Where am I? Did I take a vacation in Japan and forget? And where's the rest of the clan anyway?_

Determined to find answers as to where I was and why, I bravely stepped forth from the _futon _and towards the sliding door (very neat!), to make my way through the rest of the house.

_I'm in a house right?_

With my hand stretched out to open the door, I flinched at the sight of it - paler than I remembered. Small and skinny, at least that was still there. I felt younger, honestly. Did I shrink overnight?

"...Why…" I bit my tongue at the sound of my own voice - more whiny and less nasally than mine - kinda girly in a way.

_Did...did I wake up as a kid? Oh, Christ, did I time travel and not remember it? Oh, noooo, that's not good!_

I broke out in a sweat; goosebumps began spreading all over my body - and not the books. My beating heart skyrocketed and threatened to leap out of its ivory cage and onto the immaculately clean floor; my chest rose and fell at a rapid pace.

No amount of movies and anime could save me from the weight I felt in my stomach and chest - I could do so much with this knowledge - stop terrorist attacks and shootings, prevent the election, win the lottery, invest in stocks, win bets, do better in school and not fail Math, warn Mom about what Dad would do!

Then it hit me. What if I did do all that? Would we still move upstate? Would we still be a family anymore? Would I still be in my high school? Who would be President? How many people would I save - and how many would die in their place? Would babies not even be born? Was it my fault? I simply couldn't let bad things happen, I, I, I -

_Too much to think about - I, I, I, I need to find mom! _

I slammed the door open and made a path for my parents' room, then ran inside.

Unlike before, it was occupied by a dresser, a shelf, a desk, and a window frame of a single note - it read:

_**I have left you all that he told me. You're on your own now by the time you find this. You've learned all I could teach you about living by yourself. If it means anything, you were like a son to me if that makes sense. I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye, and I'm sorry for not talking to you more. Good luck, young one, and may your heart be your compass. God knows you need it more than anyone else.**_

_**Sensei.**_

_This doesn't make sense! Who's Sensei? And why am I hearing it as English? This is in Kanji,_ _how the hell do I know Japan -_

Suddenly it all came together like a puzzle.

This wasn't their room. I wasn't on vacation. I was alone. Younger. Phoneless. In the past. Without my family...

_I'm...a young Japanese kid? Wh - __**HOW? **__Last time I checked my family tree, we weren't exactly Asian!_

The sounds of the cicadas roused me from my shock. _We didn't have those in the States, just crickets. _Right. A distraction. Good job brain, you've ignored trauma for me once again, ol' reliable, you!

I realized there was only one final way to prove my situation - the mirror test. With stones in my stomach and a void where my heart was, I walked to the other room in the hallway - the bathroom - and entered. The lights turned on at my presence - the glare was too bright so I covered my eyes with my elbow - they slowly adjusted in seconds, allowing me to get a good look at myself in the mirror.

Draped over my body was a large white t-shirt two sizes too big for me. Underneath was a pair of shorts, just the right size.

My hair cut was short - I had a brown - no, black(?) do - with bangs. My eyes were a lovely dark shade of blue. I had a round and boyish look to match. Very pretty to be honest, definitely getting pretty boy vibes myself. Good to know!

_Nice. Still got those eyelashes~._

_But...who was I again?_

The bathroom door gave me an answer as it finally swung in to close itself - a small sign was hung up by a nail: _**shinji ikari's lovely bathroom. **_Below it was a calendar, an _**X **_over today's date - the row below had a check mark a seven days ahead.

My heart nearly died right then and there. "No…" I weakly muttered. And today's date was...a week before the Angel attacked. A week before Shinji came to NERV.

_**Oh, fuck.**_


	2. Chapter 2 - Planning

So, in a single night I woke up as a fictional character from a groundbreaking anime a full week before the series even properly started, completely alone, with nothing to do but think until it was time to go to NERV. _Peachy_. Absolutely the best thing ever, in my life.

But angst could be used for later: now was the time for eating away dark feelings with a healthy and nutritious breakfast. My stomach made its presence growling at me to hurry before it turned feral, so off I went to the kitchen and plopped myself down onto the table. Like the other rooms, it was compact. One orange, a banana, toast, and a box of corn flakes later left my stomach very satisfied...for now. Like my cynicism, it had no limits.

_Eating time over. Now is the time to think. To plan._

And...I was stuck at a crossroads, unsure of what path to take.

What could I even do? The show never went in depth about Shinji's personal life growing up after his dad left him, all that I saw was that he lived with his teacher and that was it. I mean, at least I know his first father figure was miles greater than Gendo, so there was that. I guess it didn't really matter; he was by himself now, and that's all that I needed to know.

That was the benefit of getting his memories. Surprisingly, there wasn't a whole lot I could recall about his life. Just bits and flashes: learning how to cook, going to school, listening to music. God, this kid was so much more sad than I thought.

Still...what could I do until I got to NERV? That was my second problem of the day. Shinji didn't know jack about anything around him until he was told, and with how withdrawn and secretive everyone was, he never got a chance to learn. That ruled out getting to NERV early - people would get suspicious. There must have been a reason Shinji wasn't called there before - it was planned out by Gendo or SEELE. They need me there.

_Jet Alone? Not even worth talking about._

Unless this was the Girlfriend of Steel AU. Even then, probably not. The AsuShin moments were lovely, though.

And speaking of SEELE...I wasn't even going near them, no thanks. Fanfiction is one thing - the rules got changed or the playing field got leveled - making sure Shinji could stand a chance against them. The minute I started asking questions, saying things I shouldn't know, or snooping in places I wasn't meant to be, the sooner I'd be in a ditch with two shots to the back of my head. And my friends included.

At least I could have fun putting on a show when learning about the Angels, the EVAs, and the bureaucratic fustercluck that was NERV.

From what I read - well, mostly speculated back home, SEELE planned out every part of the pilots' lives, Rei and Asuka being obvious examples of how much they controlled people - both puppets to their whims and desires. Rei cut her strings in time, but Asuka strangled herself in them at the last minute, trying to prove she wasn't a pawn. If Asuka was living proof of how much they manipulated people...what did they do to Ikari?

I knew there was something fishy about her mother's death. That, and the weird train flashbacks.

My mind suddenly thought of spies watching him as a child, observing, keeping tabs on a little boy for their masters. Making sure he didn't deviate from their timeline. Ugh. _Creeps_.

Thank the Lord I wasn't in in the manga or the Rebuilds. Shit got weird pretty quick, and whatever control Shinji had died and went out the window never to return in one way or another. Toji died!

And what about Toji? Or Sakura? If Sakura didn't get hurt, that meant Toji wouldn't be crippled, but that ran the risk of putting Kensuke or Hikari in his place. Toji made it out alive, barely. I couldn't guarantee their survival. And if she stayed injured, everything would play out as normal - but it wouldn't be fair to Toji if I knew what would happen and didn't say a word.

And that didn't even take into account whether or not I told anyone I was a pilot my first day. Granted, Rei or Asuka would spill the beans eventually either on purpose or accidentally. If I stayed incognito, I could find more genuine friends that way. If not, I could forge stronger bonds with the three of them. But...Kensuke could definitely screw over my options, not intentionally though.

_What to do, what to do?_

I tapped my foot against the floor, and drummed my fingers on the table. The kitchen did have a phone.

_Could I warn them?_

But the thought of SEELE wiretapping the phone lines made me consider - and even if they didn't, Toji or Kensuke would have even more reason to suspect me the first day of school.

Come to think of it, did no one outside of the government or the U.N know that Gendo was in charge of NERV? Did anyone ever wonder, Wow, this new student has the same last name as the NERV Commander! Are they related?

Maybe Gendo was sneakier than I thought. Or maybe everyone was just ignorant. Or maybe I was overthinking the details. Oh, this was hard! How could I save the world without getting screwed over? I softly slammed my head into the table.

_Ugh! I need to focus on something else. Too many factors at play! Screw it, I'm no time traveler! If I had my music with me…_

_Music...that's it! I'll start one step at a time._

Music was something Shinji and I both loved - sure, he liked the classics and whatever else he listened to, and I liked everything.

He didn't branch out with his tastes. But I did. And that was perfect for my next idea - take things slow. Step outside my zone.

_Don't make yourself an obvious target._

No one would question music - all teen boys loved music. And no one would question a lonely boy from having a lot of friends, now would they? Logic at work, people.

That's how I'd do things - keep things the same, but change the small things; create a gradual change. Buy some posters, action figures, comics, things I loved! Make friends and get to know the people of NERV. Learn about Asuka and Rei, and get Asuka to be herself. Assert myself - surprise everyone for the better.

_That's it! I can't open up the people around me without being me first! I know the plan now!_

_Perfect._

All I had to do was wait. It was only six days. How hard could that be? If God could wait, so could I!

Right?


	3. Chapter 3 - Goodbye and Hello

**For concerned members of the audience: I'd like to inform you that no Mary Sue's or Gary Stu's will appear in this fanfiction. He's going to get along with some members of the cast more than others - a few will be harder to win over at first, but not everyone is as open as he is. There won't be a harem ending or an asspull where SEELE gets "Omae wa mou shindeiru'd" out of nowhere and the apocalypse is stopped. Death is coming and it won't be stopped.**

**While**** our protagonist won't be going for the imouto route, (sorry Rei fans) he'll still look forward to treating her as if she was a little sister. Expect fluff and family fun times after a bit of coldness at first. No smut here - well, as spicy as I can make it, at least.**

**I**** do love a good OP protagonist story and a dash of a happy ending mixed in every once in a while, sadly this won't be the case. All he can do is try - and isn't that the lesson learned from Eva? Will he save Kaji's life? Will the second Rei survive? Will Misato stop drinking?** **Or will he sit back and do nothing much like a certain Third Child we all know? Only time will tell.**

**This**** chapter concludes the "prologue" of sorts to get acquainted with our protagonist. Sorry for the wait. After this, the main story begins as NERV rears its head at the new and improved(?) Shinji Ikari.**

**With**** that out of the way, please continue to read and review Isekai'd into Eva.**

It turned out waiting was much harder than it sounded. Apparently paranoia kicks in around the fourth day. Something about, you know, BEING **ALONE** but I digress. It was weird. How could Shinji just do nothing for all these years? It was like being an NPC in a video game or something. All he did was wake up, eat, go to school, come home, do work, then go to bed. And absolutely nothing else besides his damn cello.

I even looked for his, ahem, "_goods_" but nothing turned up. Apparently Shinji was incredibly boring - more than I expected. That would have to change by the time I got to NERV. In music and other...genres of entertainment.

School wasn't really anything special. My mind had more important matters to focus on, like the dangers of altering the timeline.

It scared me. Knowing the future, that I could prevent it from happening again, all of it. But it left me lost: should I take the safe path and let the horrors repeat? Or risk it all and potentially create a bigger catastrophe down the line, putting everyone's lives at risk? I didn't want to pull a Gurren Lagann and end up like Shinji in the third movie, out of the loop for a second time.

My thoughts drifted to the baby Hitler dilemma I saw in a movie once - if I could kill baby Adolf, would it be right? Because if I didn't, millions would die. But if I did, someone worse could take his place or the USSR would become an unstoppable force. And even millions more would die anyway. Let's not even mention the issue of shooting a defenseless baby before it became a genocidal maniac.

To kill ten to save a hundred or to kill a hundred to save ten? What was the answer?

The answer was obvious: save everyone. But that wasn't "_realistic_." So the little shit lived, and the safer option was executed.

_Damn you, reasoning_.

So it was settled: stick to the timeline and make sure the major beats happen at any cost - but everything else was fair game as long as it didn't have any long-term consequences.

_I do have a lot of range in that department. Come to think of it, Shinji could have talked to a lot of people. I could always chill with the Bridge Bunnies, hang out with Ken and Toji, talk to Fuyutsuki - it's not like I didn't have options here._

Three more days. Just three more days of waiting and the adventure would begin.

_A shame Sachiel had to die first. His design was always my favorite out of all of the Angels. _

My mind now set, I focused on my dinner, excited for what was soon to come.

It was a bright and sunny morning. From outside, I could hear the sounds of birds from chirping in their nests or huddled on telephone wires. Cicadas buzzed loudly, drowning out the birds, and just long enough to be heard over the gentle flow of what little traffic there presumably was.

...and I've already been through this before. I got up, showered, brushed my teeth, and was about to dress myself when I realized something - why show up exactly like Shinji did in the first episode? It wasn't a bad look necessarily: white shirt, black pants, tennis shoes, pretty average.

But I'm an EVA pilot now! Asuka had a point - there was no one else like us, for better or worse. So why be what everyone was expecting? Why not be weird? There was nothing wrong with a surprise here or there.

A grin stretched across my face as I nabbed a tie, a graphic t-shirt, and a few other things I bought with what money Shinji had laying around. It was a lot - he sure loved to save his allowance. Deciding not to draw attention, I splurged a little on personal stuff for when I'd move in with Misato - just to keep up appearances. Posters, a game system, books, art supplies, the usual.

Out with the old, and in with the new. I ditched the undershirt for a graphic white tee with a red design, one with Angels and biblical symbols on it - very simple with its use of shapes. A red tie was hung around my shirt collar, now a full dress shirt. My white sneakers were replaced by a stylish pair of burgundy ones. Fashionable, matching, yet very formal. I kept the pants.

Even though I was worried about someone pointing it out, I bought a small necklace with the Star of David on it. It would match with Misato's cross, and was fitting with - well, I don't need to say it, now do I?

My stuff all packed and ready to go in my (brand new) backpack, I took one last look at my room. I kinda felt sad having to leave so soon. If I didn't have to save the world...I would have loved to have stayed and made it my own. But that was in the past.

I made sure to bring the S-DAT so I wouldn't get bored on the lonely train ride there. _What could be better than listening to the pre-Second Impact's greatest hits album for an hour?_

The cello would stay until someone from NERV came to pick it up, probably.

_Until then, hold down the fort for me, pal._

The cello stood there as stoic as ever.

_Perfect! You're a natural._

My wrist watch beeped. Ten minutes until the train arrived.

With pep in my step, I strolled to the station full of fear, excitement, and...joy.


End file.
